Xi'an by bus

I ride an average of 2-4 buses per day.  They can be horrendous because of how many people cram themselves on.  However, one of the biggest benefits of learning Chinese is that I can read the bus stops.  It's opened up air conditioned buses, less crowded buses, and gotten me much closer to my destinations.  If the arriving bus looks really crowded I wait for the next one.  Sometimes that helps and sometimes it doesn't.  I quite enjoy riding the bus if it's not crowded.  I like to look out the window and I find it relaxing if I have a seat. 

Here are a few short stories of my bus adventures over the past 18 months. 

-I'll start with the most recent story:  I was holding on to the bar above me and someone's hand was touching mine, so I moved it.  Then someone's hand was ON mine.  So I moved it again to the side bar.  Again, someone's hand touching mine. This happened a couple times.  Finally I moved it to the bar in front of me and held my breath until I could get off at the next stop. I felt so gross.  I should have turned around and told him / her not to touch me but I just wanted to be off the bus.  A similar situation happened a couple months ago.  Could this be a way guys pick up girls in China?  I think I should do some investigating.

-I was peed on.  Twice in one week I saw kids go to the bathroom on the bus.  (If you don't understand how this is possible read here.) The first time a baby went all over the mother and the mother's seat.  It didn't seem to faze her but looked really gross to me.  The second time I started to feel something wet on my foot.  I looked to see where it was coming from and a small girl was peeing on the little platform right above me and it was dripping down onto my foot.  Gross! I watched everyone walk in it and track it around the bus.

-I got on the bus and this guy said 'nice to meet you' and asked where I was from.   He started to get really close to me and whisper in my ear.  Then he was touching me more and telling me I was beautiful.  Sometimes he was speaking in English and sometimes in Chinese.  He was creepy and I got off as soon as I could.

-There was a guy sitting behind me talking very loudly on the phone, putting his arm on my chair so he was touching me (not wanting to purposely touch me), spitting, and smoking.  It's common for people to talk loudly on the phone.  Personal space is always invaded on the bus.  It's not very common for people to spit on the bus.  I've almost never seen anyone smoke on a bus.  When we were getting close to the final bus stop he pushed ahead of everyone to get off first.  Chinese people can very often seem rude but this guy clearly felt above everyone else.  I was completely annoyed.  Karma was with him on that day however.   The doors opened, he was first off the bus, and he stepped in puke with his brand new white shoes.  Hurray!